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What's gone wrong with your Roadster?

Last month I took my Roadster in for its first annual maintenance. The car was in great shape, needed only a new windshield wiper. Over the first year of its life a number of minor problems did occur however. Here is list of what I can remember from the first year / 6500 miles:

Not TOO bad I guess, and so far other than a wiper blade and new tires installed last week, the cost of driving the car has been the cost of electricity to power it only. I'm happy I have two years left on the warranty, but a bit scared to imagine what might happen after that! What kinds of things have needed repair or replacement on your Roadster?

My list:
- Bad TPMS sensors multiple times
- JVC radio is not connected to speedometer so no navigation (still an issue because they needed more time and I haven't bothered, but I will get it fixed)
- JVC radio randomly reboots when skipping hard disk songs

That's it. I guess I could say the car rattles a bit, but I feel like that's just part of having a Roadster.

I've actually been VERY happy. Two of the three are problems with the lame radio. I basically use it as an amp for my iphone so it's generally not a bother.

I did have Tesla move the microphone and had the key fob antenna respositioned (is that a design flaw or something which "went wrong"). I changed the interior, trunk and license plate bulbs to LED and installed HID lights. Replaced rear tires after 12 months.

Major repairs:
high voltage controller failed. Unable to drive.
PEM/Motor fans failed once before upgrade to newer fan with cowling.

minor repairs:
TPMS antenna failed.
squeaky hard top - Tesla fixed this but 1,000 miles later became squeaky again.
passenger side door switch would stick on.
trunk latches sticky. takes several tries to open trunk (still not fixed)
body panel alignment problems between rear bumper and trunk lid. Tesla worked on this but only partially fixed it.

I must admit: My biggest reservation to purchase was the service. The owners with lower VIN's than mine were encouraging me by telling me that although TM had the right to charge for many of the warranty repairs, they hadn't. I didn't like the idea of making such a big purchase and then having to trust the good intentions of a corporation. Ultimately, I couldn't wait any longer. TM has been VERY fair about the repairs. I realize the roadster was their "proof-of-concept" model. I hope this keeps up after they release the Model S. Over all, I am very happy with the vehicle. The electric drivetrain is the best and most reliable part of the car. My only remaining lingering complaint is the wind noise (top up or down) - I've resorted to using the Bose noise canceling headphones when I drive.

EDIT: It's my understanding that the "sound reduction upgrade" brings the 1.5 more in line with the 2.5. So I feel really sorry for all the 1.5's who haven't yet sprung for the noise reduction.

Y1: 1 sheet in the battery had to be replaced. Windows adjusted for soft top.
Y2: 1 sheet in the battery had to be replaced, 2 others were replaced as 'marginal'.
Y3: TPMS control module failed, replaced.

I had the sound reduction upgrade done last year - the few annoying squeaks were removed (a couple have crept back). Had the headlights and suspension done this year.

2x Fuses in the battery blow (1 caused by a 400Volt converter blow, and 1 caused by the PEM issue) - requires battery swap and a lot of work

1x VMS swap-out as it locked-up when extracting logs to USB

1x Windscreen wiper blade fail (metal bit came out and threatened to scrape the windscreen)

2x TPMS rear antenna replacement

1x Loose wing mirror

Minor squeaks and rattles

Quite a list, and talking to other owners here in HK, it seems I have just been unlucky. Most of the above was in the first six months, and the last six months have been pretty ok. Maybe pu

That said, the 400volt converter is an issue out here in the high humidity of Hong Kong and that is something Tesla have been working on. I used to plug in and charge immediately upon returning home - now I have it set to charge at 4am to let the front dry out a bit before applying power. But, this is a concern as the summer is coming here and things are about to get very hot and very humid.

The Tesla service and support team are beyond praise. The last time a 400Volt converter blew, the head Ranger came out to my home late on a Saturday afternoon and had it swapped in 30 minutes or so. They've honored warranty on everything, without a fuss, and have come out to my office/home to deal with the issues - saving me the trip.

When my Ranger did the fan cowling upgrade, he actually replaced the entire radiator assembly (Tesla determined that was easiest). After that he had to recharge the coolant loop. It didn't quite work right the first time - something got frozen and the pressure wasn't quite right - but he tried it again and pronounced it 100%.

Interesting result: ever since my car was brand-new, I would get regular "compressor over temp" messages in the log whenever it was charging. I complained about it at the time but was told it wasn't important. Yet the first day I ever didn't get that message was the day my compressor loop was recharged.

Weak A/C is a common complaint. Maybe a lot of these cars don't have their cooling loops charged properly...?

When brand new, all the a/c gas leaked out from a badly crimped connector.

About 6 months later, had an intermittent problem where the display would sometimes go gaga with error messages, and wouldn't start. When it arrived at the LA service center, everything was fine (although the logs did show all the error messages). Replaced a bunch of computer modules and returned it to me after a week. The problem recurred about a week later, and it was in the shop for nearly a month; engineers flown down to LA to help diagnose the problem. It turned out that a CANBUS wire was out of the retainers and rubbing on the rear axle, and shorting if the car stopped with the axle in just the wrong place. Once finally fixed, the problem hasn't recurred. I came pretty close to invoking the lemon law, but fell back in love as soon as they found the real problem.

Had the fans replaced once, but the motor kept overheating anyway. It turned out that the connector in the PEM that controls the fans had burned somehow, so even though the logs said the fans were operating, they weren't. New PEM.

The satellite radio antenna failed and needed to be replaced. How does an antenna fail?

Wow I feel very fortunate with my 1.5 now with 10000 miles. I had to adjust the hood release and my door sills cracked and were replaced without issue. I now have a problem of the lumbar support not working but that can wait for a ranger visit.

I don't think the entire PEM went. Just a fuse or component. I hope they will offer repair, rather than replacement with new. Same for the battery.

Click to expand...

The tech's are not trained to repair the PEM (at least where I live), and I highly doubt they will send it back to Tesla for repair then reinstall...probably easier for them to replace it than repair it (but more expensive for us).

1) backup camera bad - replaced immediately by TM
2) trunk latch kept coming open - fixed with minor adjustment by TM that left them a bit sticky ..... Need too push button more than once..... Good trade off!
3) Stereo - with volume up while traveling top down it likes to increase volume on its own about the db level of the mute button!! Not too annoying since it goes back down after a chorus or two. Never happened with lower volumes....... Go figure.
4) Matt from TM changed the key fob antenna for me without my asking ..... Good change

Upgraded headlights ... Awesome!
Changed to LED lights on license plate, trunk, cabin ...... Recommend that
Bought new tires and rims for winter .... Changed ride a bit but great traction on mud, ice and that stupid road salt.

One other curious thing ..... " check right headlight bulb" warning came on once or twice after unlocking car at night. .... So I did and it was working. Guess I'll mention it at next service call.

That's it ......so far so good!
Some owners complain about road noise ....... Drive an Audi TT with top down ....that's roar noise!!!

I was in the Menlo Park service center so often that the service guys would say "oh no not again!" The car has had two annual
services, 2 rear tire changes (on third set now) and ~20k miles after driving it for about a year.

My only costs were for the upgrades, annual service, tires, electricity and public transport tickets. All the problems were fixed under warranty and I got the car cleaned each time as well. I haven't been back since January so now my car is totally filthy

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